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Fatah criticizes Israel for its “mechanism of violence and oppression” during the March of Return in Gaza, eulogizes “unarmed” participants killed by Israel

Headline: "Fatah: The occupation's crimes cannot pass without punishment"

"The Fatah Movement emphasized that the occupation's crimes against the unarmed members of our people in the Gaza Strip cannot pass without punishment. The movement emphasized in a statement by [Fatah] Spokesperson Atef Abu Saif that the Israeli mechanism of violence and oppression will not succeed in stopping the struggles of our people and the escalation of its encounter in defense of its land and rights. It added that the occupation state's crimes are being committed in the shadow of international silence, in blatant violation of international law.

Fatah eulogized the heroic Martyrs (Shahids) that ascended [to Heaven] today [Sept. 30, 2018] during the March of Return (i.e., violent riots on the Gaza Israel border; see note below), while recording another epic [in the history] of our heroic people. The movement emphasized that our people is continuing the struggle until achieving the final goals of its struggle, and the occupation state and its violence will not frighten it.
[Fatah] also emphasized that our people is continuing its path and its struggle, whatever the price may be."

"The March of Return" refers to massive violent riots in Gaza, in which thousands of Palestinians are rioting on the border with Israel and attempting to cut through the security fence, attacking with firebombs, flaming kites, and gunfire. The riots began on March 30, 2018, and were scheduled to last for 6 weeks until Palestinian "Nakba" Day on May 15. On the day the US embassy opened in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018, the Palestinian attacks escalated and 62 Palestinians were killed. A senior official of the terror organization Hamas, Salah Bardawil, stated that 50 of the 62 belonged to Hamas, while Islamic Jihad identified 3 others as belonging to it.
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, an Israeli research institute, published research documenting that from the start of the riots on March 30 until May 15, 93 of the 112 Palestinians killed in the riots (approximately 83%) were members of terrorist organizations.
Petitions against the IDF's use of live fire to combat the rioting submitted by organizations that advocate for Palestinian rights were rejected by Israel's Supreme Court on May 24, 2018. The court accepted the state's argument that the riots were "organized and directed" by Hamas, a terrorist organization, and thereby rejecting the claim that the riots were peaceful and civilian in nature. PMW reports were referred to in the Supreme Court's decision.

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